A New Age
by Black Blood Alliance
Summary: Fairy Tail thinks that they're one step closer to peace with the end of Grimiore Heart, but they've never been more wrong. Tartaros is the least they have to worry about when a stranger shows up with a warning and answers...Full summary inside.


**Oh dear, I really shouldn't do this, but the idea was just so intruiging that I had to try. xD I never receive much feedback in any of my stories, so maybe, if you are reading this, you could leave a review? Pwease? :3  
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**Summary: **Fairy Tail thinks that they're one step closer to peace with the end of Grimiore Heart, but they've never been more wrong. Tartaros is the least they have to worry about when a stranger shows up with a warning and answers. What could his words mean to the normally light-hearted guild? NaLu is main pairing. Others will be decided later.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fairy Tail, only the OCs and the plot.

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><p><em>A Simple Warning<em>

"What was that, Lizard-Breath?" Gray's angered hiss reiterated to Natsu's previous insult. He reared up to Natsu, butting heads with the Dragon Slayer.

"You heard me, Frosty!" Natsu growled back, responding to Gray's headbutting challenge with determined vigor. "You strip so much and you don't even know when a girl likes you, so you're gay!" Natsu repeated himself, as if his two claims were somehow connected.

"You wanna go, Human Torch?"

"Hell yeah I do, Pervert!"

Just then, two armored hands popped out of nowhere and pulled the two bickering teammates apart before slamming their heads together.

"Er...za," Gray and Natsu croaked in unison as they fell to the floor with a soft _thud._ Erza wiped down her skirt and armor of dust before walking away casually.

Gray and Natsu were up only a few minutes later, in another fierce argument. This time, however, they make a note that, if Erza came close, to act like best friends.

Cana, Makao, and Wakaba were in a drinking contest. While Cana was chugging her signature barrel, Makao and Wakaba were scarfing down mugs of Mead in a vain attempt to try and catch up to the Card-user.

Throughout the guild, Mirajane's voice piped in, but it was quickly overwhelmed by the mass chaos. "Excuse me, maybe we should clean up in case the Master walks in?" she asked with a grin, only to realize that no one had heard her soft voice.

Shoulders slumped and on the verge of a helpless cry, Mirajane walked back towards her bar, only to be comforted by Elfman. The muscular Transformation Mage ran to the middle of a guild and joined Natsu and Gray's fight. "Men should not ignore a woman's demands!" Elfman shouted, throwing punches every which way.

Makarov was out at a meeting to discuss the fight with Grimiore Heart, and he also had to drop by the council and submit a report of the happenings at Tenrou Island. Although members of the Council were there once the real fighting started, they all had quickly fled at the mention of Acnologia. Even Makarov was bewildered as to what Acnologia could possibly be. But he had ideas.

Lucy and Levy conversed about the most recent chapter in Lucy's book. Suddenly, a flicker of movement towards the entrance of the guild caught the Stellar Spirit Mage's gaze. Time seemed to slow when a man walked in; his very appearance was disconcerting. Clad in a high-collar, midnight blue cloak, the edges of which flickered as if part of his own shadow, he walked slowly. A piece of fabric, similar in color to his cloak, covered the lower half of his face. His windswept black hair cast over his eyes, shielding them from view. Dark boots that seemed to produce no noise as he walked. A pole was strung on his back.

"Hey, who's that?" Lucy interrupted Levy's incessant praise of Lucy's story.

Levy too turned towards the cloaked man, her eyes squinting for any distinguishing details. "Nope. Don't know him," Levy frowned slightly.

The man walked towards the bar. "Are you the master of this guild?" he asked Mirajane politely.

She shook her head, a kind smile gracing her pale but beautiful features. "Master's at a meeting; may I take a message to him?"

"No thanks. I suppose I'll come back later," he replied. As he made to turn around, a tanned hand gripped one of his shoulders.

Lucy's eyes widened when she saw Natsu rush towards the stranger. "Hey, fight me!" Natsu exclaimed with a smirk, throwing the man back towards the ground. "Natsu!" Lucy's voice, a mix between a scold and concern, sounded.

Natsu gripped the front of the man's cloak and hauled the man up. "You taunting me or something?" the Fire Mage growled to the stranger.

Lucy slapped her forehead. _He's hopeless_ Lucy deduced.

Then, the stranger gripped Natsu's arm in a warning gesture. "Put me down, simpleton," the man growled.

Natsu scowled, "What'd you call me?"

"That was my only warning." That was all the stranger said before the heel of his hand delivered a swift blow to Natsu's cheek. A spark of blue energy flared as his hand collided with Natsu's cheek, and Natsu was thrown to the wall.

When the smoke cleared, Natsu was standing, his hands ablaze. "Natsu, no!" Lucy warned, but just as she said that, Natsu jumped forward.

He delivered one punch towards Stranger's (I'm going to call him that for now) face, but Stranger quickly ducked. Natsu followed with multiple punches, but the man weaved through them all, appearing right before Salamander's face. Stranger struck out with his palm, striking Natsu in the chest. Some sort of connection passed before Natsu was once again thrown back, this time into the bar table.

_He's strong!_ Lucy thought to herself. By now, the majority of the guild had gathered and began to watch the fight.

The Fire Mage stood up slowly, panting. "What..the hell...did you just do?" Natsu asked in between breaths. Then his anger flared and his hands flamed. "It doesn't matter!" Natsu answered himself and charged forward again. "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu shouted.

His punch struck home, throwing the Stranger back. Stranger skidded along the ground before quickly pulling himself up. "Dragon Slayer magic..." he muttered to himself. Then he waved his arm in an arc in front of his body. "Homing Soul Arrow," Stranger murmured, and five clear, florescent orbs glowed around the man's body.

Natsu, not taking notice of the orbs, followed with another attack. "Sword Edge of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu shouted.

"Natsu, don't!" Erza warned, but the stubborn dragonslayer continued in his attack.

When he neared Stranger, the clear orbs hovering around the man's head and shoulders struck forward. Natsu's eyes widened and he veered to the left, dodging three of the five orbs. The other two, however, struck his side, surprisingly managing to pierce his skin.

Natsu collapsed on the floor against his side, groaning. "Natsu!" Lucy shouted concernedly, running to his side. She knelt next to him, motioning Wendy over. The Sky Dragonslayer approached Natsu, glancing at Stranger with a tentative gaze.

Erza re-quipped a sword and gripped it, pointing it in the man's direction. "You took it too far. No matter if Natsu attacked you first, if you were responsible, you would have detained him," she spoke authoratively.

The Stranger eyed her with a cold gaze before gesturing in Natsu's general direction. "Have I not detained him? Maybe, instead, you should detain your own guild member before he gets hurt, Miss Titania," he replied swiftly.

"Why you..." Erza growled, glaring.

The Stranger turned, glancing around him at the guild members. Some of them were fidgeting, as if they wanted to attack, but couldn't make up their mind to do so. "You all are so very weak," he muttered.

"What's that? Have at me again and we'll-" Natsu interrupted his own rant with a cough.

"Shall I harm one of your Nakama so that you'll get stronger?" The Stranger whispered softly. His cold tone pierced the tense air, his words causing many of the guild members to produce retorts.

"You wouldn't dare!" Erza snapped. As if to enforce her warning, she re-quipped into her Purgatory armor. Her massive, spiked mace hitting the ground and producing a thud. Gray hovered his fist close to his palm, an icy mist permeating the air around him. A magic circle glowed under Elfman, and his arm became hairy with black talons.

"I jest, guild members," The Stranger added. "A fight between all of us would destroy your precious little guild. Rather, I have something to say."

"Then why don't we take this outside?" Gray snarled, but Erza held him back by holding her arm in front of him.

"What do you have to say?" Titania asked cautiously, her eyes flashing dangerously. Her grip on her mace tightened, although she couldn't risk swinging it in here, with so many around.

The Stranger, in a fluid motion, crossed his legs and sat on the floor casually. "I wanted to wait for your Guild Master, but I suppose you all can just carry the message. Your Guild claims to have gone through so much struggle, yet, what do you have to show for it? Some unhappy memories? A few bruises or a couple of scars? I just don't understand how all of you can have went through so much and still be so light-hearted."

"It's because we suffer together, as a family," Laxus spoke up, apparently waking from his nap. With his arms crossed, he descended the staircase of the second floor, coming face to face with The Stranger.

"And that is why I consider you all to be weak," The Stranger replied. "You grow stronger when one or more of your 'family members' are in danger, yet it is your own weakness that causes them to be in danger in the first place. Because you get stronger to protect someone, someone has to get hurt for you to become strong. This, I consider the biggest weakness of Fairy Tail."

"What's your point?" Erza snapped.

"As I'm sure you all know, things are bound to be changing now that Zeref is being unleased onto the world. This world of kindness and mercy-the world that you all are familiar with-will be no more. Rather, it will be replaced by one of selfishness, cruelty, and survival. If you don't learn how to survive in such a world, you won't last a single week." As he spoke, a foreboding feeling descended upon the guild; tension rose in the air, threatening to break under the slightest provocation. With a sigh, he continued, "I offer you advice and a warning. If you all don't shape up, and find some _real_ strength, Fairy Tail will fall."

He sat up and began walking towards the exit of the guild. "That is all I have to say," he said finally, and he pushed open one of the guild doors.

"You speak as though you've been alone all your life. I think that you criticize our 'weakness' because you couldn't lean on someone's shoulders when you needed support, because there was no one available at the time. Is this true?" Laxus's calm voice pierced the air, causing the tension to rise even higher.

The Stranger's back went rigid, before he continued out of the door.

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><p>The Guild was in a silent trance with the man's leave. Natsu wouldn't cease in his struggling, so Erza had knocked him out with a swift chop to the back of the neck. Wendy's hands glowed a sky blue color and Natsu's wounds began to stitch themselves back together miraculously.<p>

"All better, Natsu-kun," Wendy informed with a gracious smile. Charle hovered next to the sky dragonslayer, looking disapprovingly at Natsu's now-healed form.

He sat up with a grunt. "Thanks Wendy. Now where is that bastard?" Natsu growled, his glance darting around the guild.

"He left," Erza replied stoically, approaching Natsu with a stern expression. She was back in her Heart Kreuz armor, but one could easily tell that she was still alert.

Natsu seemed shocked for a moment, but he immediately hid it behind a look of anger. "Well let's go after him then! We can't just let him get away!" Natsu shouted.

"He didn't really do anything, flame-brain," Gray replied coolly, stepping next to Erza with his arms crossed. "You and him might have gotten into a bit of a fight, but you started it. And it's not much worse than what goes on in the guild anyway."

Natsu focused on the more important matter, for once, and thus didn't reply to Gray's insult. Natsu opened his mouth to continue his stubborn agenda, but someone cut him off.

"Don't even think about going after him after you just got hurt!" Lucy snapped. "We can't have Wendy heal you all the time you get injured, so..." She sighed, before continuing softly. "Just try and tone it down, ok?"

Natsu could tell that Lucy was stressed, and he made a mental note to ask her about that later. "Ok," he grumbled in reply.

Erza and Gray gave Lucy a look that clearly said '_When did he start listening to you?_'

"Let's go on a job!" Natsu exclaimed to Lucy, Happy, Erza, and Icicle.

"That man left some sort of message for the Master, so I'm going to stay behind and wait for him to return from the guild meeting," Erza replied. Then, she shot Gray a sharp glare, "And since I'm not going to be there to break you and Natsu up if you get into an argument, you'll stay too. Even the best of friends fight sometimes," Erza spoke with a slight nod. "Besides, then Lucy will get more Joules for her rent," Erza added, glancing kindly at the Celestial Spirit Mage.

"Alright!" Natsu whooped, and he immediately raced to the job board, knocking an unfortunate Nab flying. He began to study the pieces of paper on the board intently.

Lucy came up next to him and pointed to a particular job with a modest pay. "What about this one?"

"No," Natsu replied abruptly, barely even glancing at the job Lucy had suggested.

Looking a slight bit affronted, Lucy pointed to a different job with a similar status to the other one. "Then what about this one?"

"No," Natsu reiterated.

"This one?"

"Nah-uh."

"Ok, then what about this one?"

"Definitely not."

_"This one?"_

"Nope."

About ready to punch a certain Salamander in the face, Lucy huffed indignantly. But as she made to complain, Natsu ripped a paper from the board. "This one! Let's go!" Natsu said quickly, before grabbing Lucy's wrist and pulling her out, running at an amazing speed.

"Wait up for me, Natsu!" Happy followed. ("We didn't even ask Mirajane to approve the job!") Lucy's voice echoed back to the Guild.

After watching the entire display, Gray narrowed his eyes at Erza. "Don't you think that was a little weird? Natsu declined all the tough jobs."

Erza smiled. "Maybe he is caring for Lucy's wellbeing," she replied, being as optimistic as usual.

Gray didn't look convinced. He pondered it for a few more minutes before snapping his fingers. "That bastard!" Gray hissed.

Erza glanced at him confusedly, asking him to explain through her facial expression.

Gray continued, "Natsu can almost definitely smell that guy's scent! What if he chose a job just to follow him in the first place?" Gray slapped his forehead, exasperated.

Erza's eyes widened as if she just thought of the prospect. "Natsu wouldn't do that. He promised he wouldn't go after him."

"But if you'll look at it through Natsu's way of thinking, you'll see that-" Gray replied, but stopped short when Erza gripped his arm in a fierce hold.

"Nope, Natsu wouldn't do such a thing," Erza repeated herself, dragging Gray to a table. Shooting him another fierce glare, she added, "Don't you dare leave this guild."

"A-A-Aye sir," Gray whimpered, cowering in his very seat.

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><p>Noooo...Natsu wouldn't do such a thing, would he? xD<p>

Review, pwease? K THNX BAI!


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